Ciryl Gane has left no stone unturned.
The French star’s first fight of 2025 is about to be an enormous one, as Gane challenges Tom Aspinall at UFC 321 in pursuit of constructing the brand new champion’s reign as undisputed heavyweight king a brief one.
‘Bon Gamin’ will enter Saturday’s pay-per-view as an underdog. While that’s partly all the way down to the Englishman’s UFC run so far, which has seen him go undefeated other than a freak 2022 injury, Gane’s lackluster display against Alexander Volkov in a controversial victory last December stays fresh within the mind of some.
But the previous interim champ is confident of pulling off an upset come fight night at Etihad Arena, especially given the sacrifices he’s made in training.
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Ciryl Gane has not seen his family for months ahead of UFC 321
During a recent fight week interview with TNT Sports, Ciryl Gane looked ahead to his latest opportunity at reaching the heavyweight mountaintop on MMA’s biggest stage.
The Frenchman revealed how far he’s gone behind the scenes to make sure he has the perfect probability of victory at UFC 321, admitting a “selfish” decision to not see his wife and two daughters within the lead-up.
“I’ve made some selfish decisions for this camp,” Gane said. “I’ve not seen my family for nearly three months. Sometimes, you’ve to make these decisions to your life.
“But I do know that if I’m going home with the belt, I’m going to be a completely satisfied father. Everyone in my family knows this, in order that they are OK with that,” he added.
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Ciryl Gane targets undisputed UFC heavyweight glory on the third time of asking
Gane might be hoping that sacrifice pays dividends when he enters the cage for his third shot on the undisputed heavyweight crown.
The 35-year-old has fallen short twice since becoming France’s first titleholder at UFC 265, where Gane dominantly finished Derrick Lewis to change into interim champ.
He was first beaten by former training partner Francis Ngannou in January 2022, as ‘The Predator’ got here from behind to successfully defend the throne of their unification fight.
The next 12 months, Gane was submitted by Jon Jones in shockingly quick fashion. That result didn’t dent the Paris native’s title ambitions, and one other probability now awaits within the Middle East on October 25.